NOS News•today, 3:01 PM
The parliamentary inquiry into the approach to the corona crisis is expected to last 2.5 years, slightly shorter than a previous research design. VVD MP Daan de Kort, chairman of the parliamentary inquiry committee, said this in his explanation of the investigation.
“We all know how much impact corona has had. If you want to carefully investigate all aspects, it takes time,” says De Kort. “And we will also investigate how critics of the process are dealt with and whether the decision-making of the cabinet and the House of Representatives was careful.”
Important research questions are how politicians have made trade-offs between the importance of public health and other social interests. It also looks at how fundamental rights were handled and what role the healthcare sector had in the decision-making process.
The committee of inquiry will start with file research, which will last until February 2025. This will be followed by closed preliminary discussions with politicians, experts and other stakeholders. Public hearings will begin in December 2025. The final report will not be published until a year later. It will also include recommendations for the future.
Critical
MPs from six parties are participating in the research. In addition to De Kort, these are Anita Pijpelink (GL-PvdA), Peter Smitskam (PVV), Rosanne Hertzberger (NSC), Claudia van Zanten (BBB) and Pepijn van Houwelingen (FvD). Hertzberger and Van Houwelingen were critical of the restrictive measures and vaccination policy during the corona crisis.
Van Houwelingen has been specially brought back to Parliament by his party for the first six months of the parliamentary inquiry. His colleague Freek Jansen has temporarily relinquished his seat in Parliament. It is not yet known exactly when Van Houwelingen will leave and which of the three FvD MPs will succeed him.
The six committee members have put their mutual working agreements on paper, for example about dealing with confidential documents. De Kort: “The members of the committee must act neutrally and reliably during the research period. It is also important that the members express a certain commitment to each other.”
